Xfinity’s cable plans are better than CenturyLink DSL, but CenturyLink’s fiber plan is the best option overall.
CenturyLink vs Xfinity Internet: Which One Is Worth Your Money?
CenturyLink offers both fiber and DSL internet plans. Both its fiber and DSL service have set rates, so there are no annual price increases or contracts. It has a few perks and discounts for internet customers that are worth a look. In general, customers should pick a fiber service over a DSL service because fiber internet is faster and more reliable. However, CenturyLink's DSL plans can be still be a decent high-speed internet option for rural residents with few options for internet.
Here's what you can expect from CenturyLink:
- Stable prices
- Free professional installation
- Unlimited data
- Low-latency plans
Xfinity is a cable internet plan that delivers fast download speeds for affordable prices. The provider has wide availability throughout the country and gets positive customer reviews for its steep introductory discounts, reliable service, and entertainment perks.
Here's what you can expect from Xfinity Internet:
- New-customer discounts
- Lots of data (1.2TB)
- Mobile and cable TV bundle deals
- Streaming app packages
Overall, CenturyLink's fiber internet service offers the best reliability, even if Xfinity offers faster download speeds. However, if only CenturyLink DSL and Xfinity are available, Xfinity would be the better pick. Xfinity has wide availability, offers fast speeds at decent prices, and has bundle deals to offset the cost of extra fees. Read on to learn how CenturyLink and Xfinity compare.
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CenturyLink vs Xfinity Internet: Plans, pricing, and speed
Xfinity Internet plans and prices
CenturyLink internet plans and prices
CenturyLink is a DSL and fiber provider. CenturyLink’s DSL plan, Simply Unlimited Internet, costs $55 per month and gets up to 140Mbps, depending on the location. CenturyLink Simply Unlimited plans come with unlimited data, no annual contract, and no early termination fees. The modem costs $200 bought upfront, or it costs $17 monthly to lease.
CenturyLink’s Fiber plans start at $50 to $75 per month for 500Mbps to 940Mbps symmetrical speeds. The fiber plan comes with unlimited data, no contracts, and no cancellation fees. Currently, equipment is included with no additional fees. Lower your CenturyLink internet bill as much as you can with these six handy tips.
Xfinity offers cable plans that start at 300Mbps to 2,000Mbps for $55 to $115 monthly. Xfinity typically offers a discounted rate for the first 12 months. After this introductory period, plans can increase by $20 a month or more. However, right now, customers can get a five-year price guarantee when they order before September 30th. There is also an optional modem lease for $15, but this can sometimes be waived or discounted for the first 12 months. Some Xfinity packages in a few locations include unlimited data or a monthly data cap of 1.2TB. You can pay an additional $30 to get unlimited data or $10 per 50GB block of data.
CenturyLink vs. Xfinity: Fees for modem and installation
CenturyLink currently offers free professional installation for its DSL and fiber internet plans. It also has an ongoing Refer & Earn program, which gives $100 each to you and the friend you refer. On top of the referral reward, CenturyLink will also donate $10 to a charity you choose from a list.
Xfinity's discounted introductory rates are some of the best deals available. Xfinity also offers mobile discounts which range from a free line or a free second line depending on the internet speed you select. You can also snag a streaming deal like free Peacock Premium for 24 months for gigabit plans and above, or the Xfinity Streamsaver add-on for $15 monthly (includes Apple TV+, Netflix, and Peacock Premium).
Xfinity add-ons and perks
Sign up for Xfinity Internet—valid through 09/30/2025.
Sign up for Xfinity Internet with at least 300Mbps speeds.
Order a 1 Gig, 1.2 Gig, or 2 Gig plan.
Add Xfinity StreamSaver to any internet plan.
CenturyLink add-ons and perks
Sign up for any CenturyLink internet plan
Sign up for any CenturyLink fiber internet plan
What makes this review legit?
Our fact-based research process centers on interviews with internet customers across the country, helping us understand how internet services hold up against diverse needs and challenges.
To put together this review, we looked at results from our speed test, pulled data from customer satisfaction surveys, and pored over the fine print to compare prices and speeds between the two providers. To flesh out our analysis, we also interviewed CenturyLink and Xfinity customers to get their first-hand insights. We let their experiences guide our research and shape our conclusions. We also speak with ISP spokespeople and industry experts to get insights into connection types, speed capabilities, and other technical issues related to internet service.

The matchup: How we rate CenturyLink vs. Xfinity
For all our internet reviews, we give a rating based on three main criteria—speed and reliability, dollar value, and customer experience—which we then average to make an overall score.
Here, we compare those ratings face to face. We then offer some analysis and context for important factors to keep in mind.
Want to know more? Read our full-length CenturyLink review and Xfinity review.
Speed and reliability
CenturyLink offers a fast fiber service, capable of up to 940Mbps symmetrical speeds. This means that both download speeds and upload speeds are the same, so you can do things like speedily download big games, upload photos and videos to the cloud, and host livestreams.
You’re not going to get the same speeds or reliability from CenturyLink’s DSL. If you don’t have a ton of internet service providers available where you live, CenturyLink’s DSL is still a better and way cheaper choice than a satellite connection. CenturyLink customers who ran Reviews.org’s speed test got an average of 54.83Mbps download speed, which is dismal if you need to use your internet for anything besides browsing or light gaming.
Xfinity internet speeds are fast. The slowest speed available, 300Mbps, will work well for a single person or couple, whereas the 2,000Mbps is more for a large family or a content creator who uses the internet heavily to upload and download a ton of files. Xfinity also comes in third place in our Fastest Internet Providers report. This is quite the feat, especially considering that cable providers don’t come close to delivering the same speeds as fiber.
Overall, when it comes to speed and reliability, CenturyLink fiber is technically the best choice, even if it has a lower score–dragged down by its DSL plan. Even though Xfinity offers slightly higher speeds, this difference will most likely be evened out by the fact that CenturyLink fiber customers experience less outages and get actual speeds that meet expectations.
Dollar value
Value-wise, Xfinity and CenturyLink are quite similar, but CenturyLink’s fiber plan gets you the best experience for the best price. Both providers have good attributes, like cheap promotional rates for Xfinity and no price hikes for CenturyLink. They both have their snags too–once the promo period is over, Xfinity rates can increase by $20 or more per month, which adds up over time. CenturyLink DSL is alright for the price, but there’s not much you can do to make your experience faster and more reliable besides connecting to an ethernet cable.
Compared to its main DSL competitor, EarthLink, CenturyLink actually offers higher speeds at lower prices. CenturyLink’s fiber prices aren’t bad either–it may appear to cost more on paper compared to Xfinity’s bottom-tier plans, but you’re getting much faster service and you also don’t have to deal with excessive fees or data caps. Qualifying families can even reduce their monthly bill with CenturyLink's low-income internet program through Lifeline.
It’s also great to see that CenturyLink doesn’t impose automatic price hikes on customers after a set period. Customers may still experience a modest price increase at times, but it's nice to know that there are still providers that aren’t going to raise your rates every single year.
Xfinity’s prices are decent too, especially for the first 12 months, but you don’t get unlimited data (unless you want to fork over an extra monthly fee) and some customers are also on the hook for a cancellation fee if they signed up for a term contract. Still, bundling with mobile gives you a few deals depending on your plan, such as getting a free line for a year, a free second line, or a discounted monthly internet rate.
Customer experience
CenturyLink’s customer experience varies on–once again–the connection type. DSL customers have slower, less stable connections. Fiber customers are happy with the reliable, affordable service. As expected, the provider ranks higher for its fiber experience than DSL, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index survey. On HighSpeedInternet.com’s Customer Satisfaction Survey, CenturyLink scored just below average compared to other major providers. Regardless of connection type, customer service representatives could use some better training. “They were not very responsive when I did have an issue,” says Cai Crawford, CenturyLink fiber customer in South Jordan, Utah.
Xfinity customers have mixed reviews on their experience. When pressed, some customers admitted that they didn’t have actual negative reviews on the provider, although they were aware of Comcast’s existing reputation as a bad provider. “Nothing sticks out,” says Dylan Woolf, an Xfinity customer in Salt Lake City, Utah, who doesn’t expect too much from customer service agents. “It’s just one of those sort of routine, run-of-the-mill experiences that doesn’t register as notable,” he says.
Overall quality: Which internet provider should you pick?
Overall, the best way to go is to pick fiber internet over cable, and cable internet over DSL. So get CenturyLink fiber if it’s available. If not, then you’re good with Xfinity. Centurylink DSL should be your last resort if you can’t get anything faster.
CenturyLink offers reasonable prices, which is one of its best qualities. The plans are fast and reliable enough for most people, and it’s definitely worth getting CenturyLink’s fiber service if it’s available for you.
Xfinity has wide coverage and availability, great speed, and good introductory prices. Customer service could use work, and it could be tricky to keep tabs on how long your service has been running to anticipate when your rates will increase. Bundling with a mobile plan definitely gets you more out of your dollar, but even without the bundle, Xfinity’s track record for fast speeds make it a strong provider.
CenturyLink vs. Xfinity: What do customers think?
Customers like CenturyLink fiber’s affordability and reliability
CenturyLink customers spoke positively about their experience with the provider. “It's hard to beat the price I have, and service is generally really good,” says Cai Crawford, who is happy with CenturyLink fiber’s reliability. This is even after the time a CenturyLink technician cut a line while running fiber to a nearby street, leaving Crawford and his neighbors without Wi-Fi for a night. “They were really slow to get me an estimated timeline for the repair,” he says.
We didn’t get to interview DSL customers, but it's likely that DSL customers aren’t having the best experience, simply from the slow speeds taken from the average result of customers who ran our speed test. The American Customer Satisfaction Index also shows that CenturyLink DSL performs below average for non-fiber internet service providers, below Spectrum, Xfinity, and Optimum, but above Mediacom, Frontier, and Kinetic.
Xfinity has good promotions, but long-time customers pay higher prices
Some Xfinity customers enjoy the provider’s speed, reliability, and promo prices, but others feel that as loyal customers, they miss out on discounted prices. “I wish that they would treat their new customers the same as their existing customers," says Bridget Gutierrez, an Xfinity customer in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Gutierrez has tried and failed to negotiate with customer service to get a better price on her plan, and she’s disappointed that her service isn’t as fast as it should be.
Another customer Reviews.org talked to feels trapped with few options for high-speed internet. “The area I live in only has two choices, Xfinity and Centurylink. Otherwise I would go with someone else in a heartbeat,” says Rachel Mabey, who went with Xfinity because CenturyLink DSL was the only other option. Mabey feels disgruntled after her private information was compromised during the October 2023 data breach that affected close to 36 million Xfinity customers.
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